Unknown
by LoveBlossoms
Summary: When Ron dumped her ungraciously, Hermione sought something to ease the pain. That ended up being Draco Malfoy. But now she's pregnant, and she has no idea which could be the father. *AU*
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: This was just something I wrote while working on my other story the other night. It wasn't going well, so I started writing this to refresh my brain. I don't know if I'm going to add to it yet.**_

I played with my quill, unable to focus on the essay I was supposed to be grading for Professor McGonagall. It was the last one; I had managed quite effectively to shut out my own thoughts when grading the rest of the first years' papers. But now, with the pile nearly gone—one sole paper remained to be graded—I found it difficult to keep that wall up around my own thoughts. I bit my lip, a habit I had picked up to better handle anxious moments. The poor kid didn't know how to write an essay. This, of course, just made it more difficult to grade the paper instead of focusing on my own thoughts.

What was I going to tell everyone? What would Ginny say? Or Harry? Or Ron? I bit my lip harder. God, I didn't want to be there to see his reaction. I struggled through another sentence of the paper. I tried to reconstruct the wall around the thoughts overwhelming my mind. I crossed out poorly written sentences, reconstructing his essay so that he would know for the next assignment. Finally, I wrote the grade at the top and placed it on the top of the completed stack. I stood up, placing the lid on the ink jar and placing the quill next to it. I grabbed the stack of essays, returning to Professor McGonagall's classroom. I opened the door with a flick of my wand; I set the essays down on the desk and turned to walk back out of the room.

"Thank you," Professor McGonagall said as she walked through the door herself.

I fidgeted uneasily.

Her eyebrows pulled down in a look of concern. "Are you alright, Hermione?"

I bit my lip again. "Actually, would it be possible to use your fireplace? I need to speak with Harry and Ginny about some things, and it would be much easier to use the Floo Network than walking to Hogsmeade to apparate."

She looked over me then nodded. "Yes, of course you may." And she walked out the door, leading me to her office. She opened the door for me but didn't enter the office herself. "I have some lesson plans to finish for my N.E.W.T. students. I'm sure you can manage the fireplace on your own," she explained. With that, she walked away.

With a deep breath, I walked over to the fireplace. Harry _had_ said I was welcome at any time at Grimmauld Place. Hopefully that was truth. I grabbed a handful of floo powder from a pot sitting on the mantle and stepped into the fireplace. "12 Grimmauld Place," I said firmly as I threw the floo powder down.

Immediately green flames engulfed me, and I was sucked into the Floo Network. Only a few moments passed before I felt myself falling into a new fireplace. I opened my eyes to see the living room of Grimmauld looking back at me. Harry was on his feet, wand at the ready and Ginny tucked protectively behind him.

Recognition lit his face as I stepped out of the fireplace. He lowered his wand. Ginny ran up and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back. "What's wrong?" Harry asked before I pulled away from his wife.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she pulled herself out of the hug. Her eyes were full of concern.

"Nothing is necessarily _wrong_," I responded. I fidgeted with the hem of my skirt.

"What's going on? Who's here?" Shit. It was wrong. I had hoped he wouldn't be here. Would that mean that Lavender was here, too? That would just be my fucking luck, wouldn't it?

Ron walked into the room but stopped short when he saw me. He gulped, looking at the ground. "Oh. I'll just leave you to talk." And he walked right back out of the room.

It had been just under three months, and we still weren't on speaking terms. It had been a horrific break up. And he didn't even know what I did in response to that night. The night he told me that he, in fact, didn't like me as much as he thought when we had kissed during the Battle of Hogwarts almost a year ago. The relationship had, in all truth, become bland—even boring. I mean, the emotions had settled, and it had reached that point where you're either content with the person or wishing that you felt as you used to. I was content with Ron. Turns out that he was wishing that he felt the way he used to. He told me he was tired of the relationship; that it obviously wasn't working. Then two weeks later, he was dating Lavender Brown again.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Come sit down," she said, motioning for me to sit on the couch. "What's up?"

I gulped. "Umm…Well…" Harry reached out and patted my hand. I looked down. "I'm pregnant," I whispered as quickly as I could.

"What?" Harry asked.

I opened my mouth to say it again, but Ginny spoke before I could. "I know you heard her because I definitely did." I looked up. She was looking at me with these sad, sorry eyes. "You're sure?"

I nodded. "I even went to a muggle doctor. I'm eleven weeks today." Harry let out a breath. I could see both of them running through the numbers, trying to figure out the timeline.

"It's Ron's?" He asked me.

I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood. My hands twisted together in nervousness. "I…" I gulped. "I don't know."

Because the night Ron dumped me, I sought out to numb the burning pain in my chest. I left Gryffindor tower, looking for anything to make it seem like I might be able to feel again.

I didn't know because the night that Ron told me he was done, I slept with Draco Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Here's the next little bit. Hope you enjoy!**_

Harry looked at me for a moment. "How do you _not_ know?" He asked the obvious question. His eyes didn't leave mine, but they had this dark edge to them as if he was trying to decide if he should hate me or not.

"Well why do you think?" My voice was still almost silent. I mean, for the love of God, Ron was freaking here and all.

Harry's mouth opened as if he was going to say something, but Ginny spoke first. "Who, Hermione? Does he know? And what about Ron? What are you going to tell him?"

I looked down at my hands. No, Draco didn't know. I hadn't even talked to him since _that_ night. I moved on to her next question. "Ron?" His name fell uneasily from my tongue.

"Well yeah. I mean, if it _is_ his, then he needs to know! Our parents won't let him abandon a baby—and neither will I!" Her voice bordered on indignant.

This is why Ginny was my best friend. We had become close after the war; we had spent many nights in her room talking about our guys and how crazy they were and all the little things that girls never get to talk about when guys are around. She left her perch on Harry's lap to sit next to me on the couch. She wrapped one arm gently around my shoulders, like she did when we were having one of our late night girl sessions and things had not gone well for Ron and me that day. Her free hand came to rest on my knee.

"I promise that we won't judge you or look down on you," she promised. Could I trust her? I looked into her eyes and was stunned by the sincerity I saw burning within them. In retrospect, I really shouldn't have been surprised. We had grown so close by that time. "But we need to know so that we can help you. Part of that is telling whoever is the father that he, in fact, is going to be a father. He might not want to help or to know or anything, but it's something that needs to be done."

Harry voiced his agreement. "It's not like Ron's innocent in all this either."

I looked up at him and found him raising his hands in defeat.

"That _particular_ story needs to be told by him. You need to hear him say it."

I turned back to Ginny. I would sort through that later. I took a deep breath and bit the inside of m cheek. I covered her hand with both of mine; I gripped it tightly.

"The night that Ron dumped me, I slept with someone else in an impulse to numb the pain and shock."

"Alright," Ginny's quiet voice encouraged me on.

"It happened to be,,," I paused for a moment. Not for dramatic effect or anything, but to gather the courage to say his name. "I ended up sleeping with Draco Malfoy."

"Holy—" Harry began to swear loudly.

"Thank you for telling us," Ginny enunciated clearly and with enough volume to cover Harry's particularly colorful word choice in that moment.

"Damn. That is _not_ the name I had been expecting," Harry admitted.

I squeezed Ginny's hand harder. "See why I'm freaking out about it? Ron and I… Well, the timeline is beyond questionable. I have no idea who is responsible."

Ginny and Harry exchanged a long look; I saw Harry shiver a little. But then he spoke clearly and with conviction I hadn't heard in a while.

"We'll help you in every possible way we can. Have you told Professor McGonagall? This will directly affect your preparations to become the Transfiguration professor."

Ginny added, "And you need to tell both of _them_ as soon as possible. Draco works in the Ministry, so Harry can help set up a time where you could talk to him. As for Ron, I suggest now. Lavender isn't here, so he would have time to prepare himself before having to be around her. Besides, he has his own truth to tell you."

I absorbed their words as best as I could. I really didn't have time for a long conversation with Ron; I needed to return to Hogwart's to finish my lesson plans for the First Years the following day. But Lavender wasn't there, and that _never_ happened.

I bit my lip in consideration. Finally, I nodded. "I'll go get him," Harry said and stood up. I watched him leave the room. Once he disappeared into the hallway, I found myself beginning to hyperventilate.

Ginny flipped over her hand and squeezed my own. "It'll be alright. Harry and I will always be with you. You don't have to fear anything."

I tried my hardest to believe her. But I found it difficult to grasp that truth when Ron walked in. Alone. Ginny stood up, releasing me from her grip. She didn't say a word as she walked out of the room. I noticed that she didn't look at Ron at all.

He stood behind on of the chairs across from me, his hands gripping the top in such a way that made his knuckles turn white. We looked at each other for a minute. I tried to figure out how to tell him—did I just say it like I did with Harry and Ginny? Part of me felt like that was wrong. But how did I lead into something like that?

I decided to just say it.

"I'm pregnant," I blurted out.

But he said, at the same exact time, "I cheated on you."

Say _what_?


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N: I know it's been a while. I've been focusing on my Severus/Hermione story recently. But now I've built up a few chapters of this story, so I'll post more frequently for the next few weeks. Thank you so much for reading!_**

"You…cheated…" I struggled to say the words. "On…me?"

He looked at the ground and shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"When? With whom? For how long?" I asked. How long had he thought I wasn't good enough? Who did he think was better than me? Was worth the time and effort I was supposed to be getting from him?

"Ummm…" He muttered. He looked around the room. Was he seriously trying to get out of this conversation? I mean, we had just started. We hadn't even gotten to my confession. He might as well sit down. We were going to be here for a while.

I put venom in my voice. "I think I deserve the truth from you now, Ron. If never again, I deserve it now."

He looked at me, startled by my sudden edge. Then he looked down. "About once a week. For the last three months of our relationship… with Lavender."

Three months? Three _months_? Oh my God. How did he keep that from me for three _months_? I looked at my hands and tried not to cry. We hadn't been dating for almost three months. I'd managed to get over him after he tore out my heart. I shouldn't be crying now.

But, God, it felt like he was tearing my heart out all over again. He'd been done with me three entire _months_ before he finally got the balls to break up with me. He…I mean, we had… I clenched my hands into fists. We had made love so many times during those last three months—and for what? For him to decide that Lavender did it better?

I choked back a sob. I wouldn't give him that. I wouldn't let him know how much he had in my heart, how much space I had given him to occupy, not when it was clear he had never wanted it. I took a breath, looked up at him. He looked rather uncomfortable.

"Then you should let her know that I'm pregnant," I told him, my voice biting.

His eyes widened in disbelief. "_What_?" He asked, incredulous.

I chewed on the inside of my lip out of nervous habit. "But you can also tell her not to worry too much. It might not even be yours," I continued bitterly.

His grip tightened on the back of the chair, his knuckles turning white. "How?"

"How am I pregnant?" I laughed mockingly. "Come on now, Ron. You _know_ how that whole process works.

"But we…took precautions…" he muttered, looking down at his hands. He seemed to realize that he had a death grip on the chair because he suddenly unclamped his hands and dropped them to his sides.

"Not the last time, we didn't," I told him. I kept my voice calm, steady, reasonable. He knew that we hadn't. He was just trying to get out of it.

He fumbled for words for a minute. Then he looked back at me, his eyes cold and hard. "Who the hell else's could it be?" He asked with venom.

I didn't break eye contact. I wouldn't show him how ashamed I was of this fact. I wouldn't let him see how much he still had of my heart, even three months later. So I said with a steady voice, "Draco Malfoy."

His eyes widened. "You cheated on me with _Malfoy_?"

What the…?

He thought I had cheated? Oh no. He wouldn't put that kind of shame on me. I slept with Draco after he had dumped me, not before. I hadn't even _thought_ about sleeping with _anyone_ before that night. And I honestly hadn't thought about it since. My heart was still bleeding. How could I let another guy in for more than a numbing fling?

"I didn't cheat," I told him honestly, though without emotion.

"Then how the hell else could there be a question of it's mine or not?" He questioned logically.

"I made a poor decision the night you broke up with me." I twisted my hands together in my lap again as he stared at me with these wide, shock-filled eyes.

He seemed to compose himself, though. "Then I guess we'll find out when it's born." He said. He turned for the doorway. He was nearly out of the room when he stopped. He didn't turn around. "But don't expect me to be the father even if it is mine. I don't want anything to do with it." And he walked out of the room without another glance back.

I sat there for a few minutes, my mind surprisingly blank. I sort of noticed when Ginny came in and sat down next to me. She didn't touch me. She didn't say anything either. I didn't cry. I didn't feel angry or hurt or broken. Well, aside from the faint aches of my heart that reminded that it was still empty.

"Draco said that the only time he can meet with you is in about ten minutes. Do you need to let Professor McGonagall know?" Harry's voice drifted over me.

I looked up at him. "No," I told him. "I don't need to let her know."

He nodded and looked at Ginny. "Will you take her? I need to finish a report for Shacklebolt."

She nodded. "Of course," she said. She looked over at me. I stood numbly and followed her through the house to the front door.

"What the hell, man?" I heard Ron talking to Harry. "What am I supposed to Lavender? She's already convinced I don't like her because it took me so long to dump Hermione."

"That's not my problem, Ron," Harry returned, his voice surprisingly cold. "You should have thought of that when you slept with Hermione two hours before you dumped her."

I took a deep breath. Ginny reached out and touched the inside of my elbow gently. "Let's go, Hermione." She opened the front door, leading me onto the porch. She gave me a look and then turned us sharply to the left.

After a few torturous moments, the tightness lifted. Ginny let go of me, turning me around slowly, smiling encouragingly. And then she walked back a few steps and turned sharply. She disappeared with a loud _pop_. I looked back around and found Draco looking at me, one eyebrow raised.

"I only have about five minutes, Granger. I don't have time for irritating lack-of-formulated thoughts, alright?"

I nodded and took a deep breath. Here went the second one.


End file.
